The Union Minister of State for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution on Monday said that during the three years of NDA government, at least three crore fake and duplicate ration cards were canceled.

The minister CR Chaudhary said that linking of the ration cards to the holder's Aadhaar number had allowed the government to clean up the system.

Speaking at the 21st National Conference on e-Governance, the minister said the removal of these fake cards has saved the country Rs. 17,000 crore annually in the past three years.

"Out of 23 crore ration cards, 19 crores are linked with Aadhaar. We have removed 2.95 crore fake ration cards which have ensured that foodgrains are being delivered to the rightful person," he informed.

Reasons: The importance of e-governance

Chaudhary said e-governance could help in increasing the ease of doing business in India which would also help attract foreign investment.

Telangana's Minister of IT and Industries, KT Rama Rao, who was also present, said that 4,500 "Me-Seva" centers in the state were handling 1.5 lakh transactions daily.

He informed that these centers had completed 10 crore transactions since they began seven years ago.